Sunday, April 22, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Ammon's Blessing
We were so glad to have family with us for Ammon's special day--thank you for coming!!
Monday, March 12, 2012
Time is Flying
A month with a newborn goes so much faster than a month being pregnant! Here are a few snapshots of Ammon adjusting to life with us. He continues to be a mellow, happy baby and we are loving this time with him.
Love his yawns!
Esther thought he'd like to read a book or two, or three or four or five or six.
Life is good, yeah!
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Home with Ammon
Here are some snapshots from Ammon's first few days at home.
My dad drove over Friday and stayed the night before heading back with my mom Saturday morning. (She rode the train here last Wednesday). We were so happy to have them with us, thank you again for coming!
Big yawn!
Spencer loves holding Ammon and has been very sweet with him. He is a great big brother! Esther loves to come look at Ammon also and laughs when he cries or makes a noise. She calls him baby, baby brother, and Ammon, which fortunately is easy for her to say.
My dad drove over Friday and stayed the night before heading back with my mom Saturday morning. (She rode the train here last Wednesday). We were so happy to have them with us, thank you again for coming!
Big yawn!
Spencer loves holding Ammon and has been very sweet with him. He is a great big brother! Esther loves to come look at Ammon also and laughs when he cries or makes a noise. She calls him baby, baby brother, and Ammon, which fortunately is easy for her to say.
Our newest family picture.
We love you, Ammon!!
At the hospital
Everything went so well for Ammon's labor and delivery and we are just so thrilled that he is here. The entire labor was only about 6 1/2 hours so there is not much to tell, but for the record I'll include some more details. I started having contractions Tuesday afternoon around 4:00 and they came pretty consistently every 5 to 10 minutes but were pretty short right from the beginning. I didn't tell Daniel until halfway through dinner because I was still trying to convince myself that labor had really started, after having so many Braxton Hicks in the last few weeks. I was three days past my due date and didn't want to get my hopes up if I was wrong. I started to officially time the contractions around 7:30 and get things ready, knowing that we would be going to the hospital that night. I called the midwife at 8:00 to give her a heads up but said I could probably stay home a while longer. She said to have everything ready to go in case things moved quickly and to call when I decided to go to the hospital. By 8:30 I decided the contractions were strong enough that we should head out. Spencer and Esther were not yet asleep so we told them we were going and that Gramma would stay there with them. I am so grateful my mom was here and that we didn't have to worry about the kids at all.
We arrived at the hospital at 9:11pm and the contractions were pretty strong but still not too long. I could tell the people at the front desk were not impressed when we told them the length and frequency, 40 seconds and 4 minutes apart. When we got situated in the labor and delivery room, the midwife checked to see how far dilated I was. She looked at me and asked if I had any guesses. I knew I was at a 6 when I checked in with Esther and thought maybe it would be the same but just told her I had no idea. She told me I was at a 9. I could not believe it!! I laughed out of surprise and relief to know I was this far and that the contractions should be tough at this point. I labored for about another hour and the midwife then suggested that she break my water. With that release I was ready to push and with a few more contractions Ammon was born! It was very intense at the end and I felt very grateful that everything went as quickly as it did. I had prepared to have a natural birth in case things did go quickly but by the end of my pregnancy I was hopeful to have that experience regardless. I was very pleased with both Spencer and Esther's births with epidurals but felt that I wanted to experience a natural birth this time and feel so blessed that I could. Daniel was so supportive through it all and it is a sweet memory for both of us.
Daniel brought Spencer and Esther and my mom to the hospital the next morning and we enjoyed our first moments together meeting baby brother.
I stayed at the hospital the next day by myself and got some good rest. I had to wait until Ammon was 48 hours to get discharged, so after 10:30pm, but it worked out well because Daniel had a full day on campus and was able to have dinner with the kids and give them a bath before coming over to spend the last few hours with me and Ammon. We got home late but it felt so good to be there and I kept saying to myself how home really is heaven on earth! And now we are enjoying our sweet little bundle of joy that just came from there and couldn't be more happy.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Christmas, a month late!
I won't waste my time giving excuses and will just get this post up instead. We absolutely LOVED our Christmas vacation at home this year and couldn't have wished for anything more. Spencer and Esther have become such good little buddies lately and their happy spirits are contagious and brought the magic of Christmas to our home. Daniel had a full three weeks off of school and we packed a lot in, getting to projects we've needed to do since moving in, and a lot of relaxing and sleeping in as well. Usually January is my least favorite month but I'm still on such a high from Christmas that it has flown by remarkably fast.
All bundled up to go play outside after dinner on Christmas Eve.
Reading in the afternoon while we got Christmas Eve dinner ready. He has loved the Calvin and Hobbes books we have on our shelf, both to look at by himself and for us to read to him.
We had our first official nativity pageant with Spencer as Joseph and Esther as Mary but somehow Esther didn't get in the picture. The photo below is from our "dress rehearsal" a few weeks earlier and it was just as hard to get them together, so unfortunately the only good one turned out blurry :( Still, it was very sweet to hear Spencer tell the story of Christ's birth that he really caught onto this year.
Spencer was excited Christmas morning, despite his facial expression here, but he actually didn't remember about the presents and Santa filling the stockings until after being awake for almost an hour (I was letting Daniel snooze a little longer). Also pictured here is Daniel's favorite Christmas gift, the organ from his grandma. She played for years and now that he is ward organist she offered it to him and his parents were able to bring it down just before Christmas (thank you again!!!!!!!!). It has been so helpful for him to practice at home during the week rather than squeezing in some time Saturday mornings at the church.
When we were wrapping presents, Spencer wanted to give Daniel some of his toys so he chose these old bean bags to wrap up.
Packages at Christmas are always so much fun--thank you to everyone who sent us gifts!!
Uncle Steven wins again with picking out the best present for the year. Esther absolutely loved this Elmo that sings when you squeeze his tummy. She has become a real fan of this furry red monster and points him out everywhere we see him in the stores, which is surprisingly a lot.
We didn't have church until 1:00 so the kids got to play with all their new toys all morning. We joined some friends in the ward for dinner, successfully cooking our first turkey to bring, and had a great evening with them.
All bundled up to go play outside after dinner on Christmas Eve.
Reading in the afternoon while we got Christmas Eve dinner ready. He has loved the Calvin and Hobbes books we have on our shelf, both to look at by himself and for us to read to him.
We had our first official nativity pageant with Spencer as Joseph and Esther as Mary but somehow Esther didn't get in the picture. The photo below is from our "dress rehearsal" a few weeks earlier and it was just as hard to get them together, so unfortunately the only good one turned out blurry :( Still, it was very sweet to hear Spencer tell the story of Christ's birth that he really caught onto this year.
Spencer was excited Christmas morning, despite his facial expression here, but he actually didn't remember about the presents and Santa filling the stockings until after being awake for almost an hour (I was letting Daniel snooze a little longer). Also pictured here is Daniel's favorite Christmas gift, the organ from his grandma. She played for years and now that he is ward organist she offered it to him and his parents were able to bring it down just before Christmas (thank you again!!!!!!!!). It has been so helpful for him to practice at home during the week rather than squeezing in some time Saturday mornings at the church.
When we were wrapping presents, Spencer wanted to give Daniel some of his toys so he chose these old bean bags to wrap up.
Packages at Christmas are always so much fun--thank you to everyone who sent us gifts!!
Uncle Steven wins again with picking out the best present for the year. Esther absolutely loved this Elmo that sings when you squeeze his tummy. She has become a real fan of this furry red monster and points him out everywhere we see him in the stores, which is surprisingly a lot.
Enjoying yummy donuts Santa brought for breakfast.
We didn't have church until 1:00 so the kids got to play with all their new toys all morning. We joined some friends in the ward for dinner, successfully cooking our first turkey to bring, and had a great evening with them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)